LESSONS IN JEWISH THOUGHT, Adapted from Lectures of Rabbi Joseph B. Soloveitchik, by

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1 REVIEW ARTICLE Emanuel Feldman Rabbi Feldman is a member of the Editorial Board of TRADITION and the Rabbi of Congregation Beth Jacob, Atlanta, Ga. REFLECTIONS OF THE RAV: LESSONS IN JEWISH THOUGHT, Adapted from Lectures of Rabbi Joseph B. Soloveitchik, by Abraham R. Besdin The scene is familar: a large assembly hall, perhaps two or three thousand people in attendance. Present are young and old, men and women, rabbis with years of learning and experience in the pulpit, members of the academic community, Orthodox as well as non-orthodox Jews. Tape recorders whirr, pencils take rapid notes. On the podium stands a tall, lean, grey-bearded figure, delivering a lecture on the fine points of Halakhah and Jewish thought. Although his subject is complex and subtle, he wil hold his diverse audience enthralled for several hours. The speaker is Rabbi Joseph B. Soloveitchik, known to his disciples by the appellation, both respectful and affectionate, of "the Rav." What lies behind the veneration and awe in which he is held by his disciples and by the Jewish community at large? He is not, after all, a product of the kind of media hype occasionally found in Jewish circles: he grants no interviews, has no press agents; his words are not calculated to shock, intrigue, arrest, or attract. Nor is he a hasidic rebbe commanding an automatic following by virtue of leadership of a particular sect. And although he is first and foremost a scholar and a student, he rarely publishes. Yet, for the past several decades Rav Soloveitchik, Rosh Yeshivah at Rabbi Isaac Elchanan Theological Seminary, has been perhaps the single most intriguing figure within contemporary American Judaism. Born in Poland in 1903, scion of several generations of world famous talmudic luminaries beginning with the famous Rav Chaim Soloveitchik - the "Brisker Rav" - Rab- 84 Tradition, 19(1), Spring /81/ $00.95 " 1981 Rabbinical Council of America

2 Emanuel Feldman bi Joseph B. Soloveitchik is recognized as one of the preeminent Torah personalities of this generation. But despite this genealogy and his readily acknowledged erudition and briliance, the phenomenon of Rabbi Soloveitchik goes beyond this. For our generation has been blessed with a number of rabbinic intellectual giants. And while each of them has had a deep influence beyond his circle of immediate students, it is fair to say that no one has attained as wide an audience among diverse groups within Jewish life as has Rav Soloveitchik. When the surprising revival of American Orthodoxy in the twentieth century is finally recorded, historians wil give due recognition to the various great roshei yeshivot and hasidic rebbeim who, together with the newly arrived immigrant survivors of World War II, brought with them the stubbornness and the vision which were the catalysts for Jewish renewal in America. The schools they founded, the yeshivot they nurtured, the personal examples which they set, the attitude of self-confidence which they created - all resulted in the newly committed corps of Jews who are the vanguard of today's recrudescent Orthodoxy. At the same time, the historian wil have to understand a more subtle truth: that it was the unique approach and personality of leaders such as Rav Soloveitchik which provided the intellectual framework and model by which the secularly-oriented Jew could find his way back to the tradition. He, perhaps more than any other, was able to demonstrate to a wide audience the intellectual rigor and discipline of halakhic categories as well as the profound world-view inherent in the apparently legalistic minutiae of daily Jewish lie-a world-view which addresses itself not only to the mind but also to the troubled heart and soul of lonely, alienated contemporary man. This demonstration of the universality of Torah, presented with such clarity of mind and passion of heart, also contributed immeasurably to the strengthening of the Orthodox community which was being intellectually buffeted on all sides. In particular, he has had a lasting impact on the American-trained Orthodox rabbinate, not all of whom studied under him at Yeshiva University, but many of whom have benefited from his teachings. Thus the historian wil find that he was a major architect of the bridge upon which many marginal Jews were able to return, as well as a primary shaper of the thinking of much of the traditional Jewish leadership. While these contributions of his are significant, they stil do not account for the fascination which he holds for so many. Part of this is undoubtedly due to his gifts as an orator. His abilty to hold an au- 85

3 TRADITION: A Journal of Orthodox Thought dience for hours-long lectures is a study in the use of voice, gesture, inflection, and language: a natural ability to create a connection with his listeners. And though he crafts his lectures meticulously, writing, rewriting and editing mercilessly, his talks are marked by a spontaneous, incisive wit, by questions to the audience - particularly to an audience of rabbis-which are not simply rhetorical, but for which he expects an answer from his listeners; by an affect and emotion which do not hesitate to bare his innermost soul; by anecdotes about how things were in his father's or his grandfather's house; by an unconcealed ardor for his subject. And when he talks, as he often does, about the relation of mind and heart, and the so-called intellectual coolness of the approach of Brisk and the so-called emotional warmth of the hasidic tradition in which he is also steeped, he is in actuality discussing the special intellectual and emotional qualities which are his own. He is, in brief, a consummate platform teacher, and in fact he constantly refers to the role of the teacher/rebbe in Jewish life as being the most significant figure in all of Jewish history: Moshe Rabbenu is the teacher par excellence and is considered superior to king and prophet in IsraeL. His appeal may also be due to his independent and innovative persona. Elsewhere, he has written that he has a liking for pioneers, for experimenters, for people who do not follow the crowd. I have always admired the first ones, the early ones, the beginners, the originators. Even in my derashot I prefer to speak about those who defied public opinion, disregarded mockery and ridicule, and blazed new trails leading man to God. i He is a traditional rosh yeshivah with a philosophy doctorate from the University of Berlin; a recognized talmudic authority who is au courant with contemporary thought; a preeminent authority on Maimonides, whose restless mind also knows Kierkegaard and Heidegger. Intellectually, religiously, spiritually and scholastically he is in the mold of the classic rosh yeshivah, giving regular shiurim in Talmud and relentlessly striving to teach his students the underlying logical core of halakhic discourse. But he eschews the traditional garb of the rosh yeshiva, the kappotte and the wide-brimmed black hat, which is perhaps symbolic of the maverick within him. While constantly upholding the clear supremacy of Torah learning in all of its forms and manifestations, and while emphasizing the strict, disciplined, and uncompromising allegiance to the totality of halakhic living, he does not hesitate to call upon the resources of 86

4 Emanuel Feldman secular thought and learning when they can underscore his message, thus apotheosizing the secular into the sacred. In his recurring themes one also finds a key to his abilty to make contact with the contemporary soul. The motif of alienation is sounded regularly in his work: we hear of "the dark night of the soul"; the meaning of death and mourning in human life; loneliness (Jewish prayer is a dialogue between the lonely Jew and the lonely God); defeat; the absurdity of existence without God; retreat, pain, suffering: the entire lexicon of modern existential thought. Whether it be in the touching eulogy for the Talner Rebbetzin, or a theoretical excursus into the metaphysical realm of the role of authority in Jewish life, the listener is caught up short by the recognition of his own hitherto inchoate vexations and anxieties. It is only the saving quality of Torah and halakhah which makes it possible for absurd and lonely man, whose life without God and Torah is inherently pathetic and tragic and whose physical end is in the grave, to reach out confidently to the King of Kings and to make contact with Him. Thus Rabbi Soloveitchik gives expression to his own genuinely religious personality, for whom Torah is not an abstraction, but the leitmotif of all of existence and the prism through which God's presence is apprehended. In addition to this abilty to strike responsive chords within contemporary man, the mystique of the Rav entails his remarkable use of language. Whether he speaks in his adopted English or his native Yiddish, his use of words is at once precise, felicitous, dramatic, eloquent and poetic. While the world of Torah scholarship can boast of a profusion of great intellects, what is altogether rare is the corresponding gift of articulation and communication-without which the most profound and incisive scholarship remains unshared, unknown, and untaught save to a select few. This fusion of rigorous thought and language is at the heart of Rav Soloveitchik's power, and makes him a teacher par excellence. In fact, he has often said of himself that he is not a professor, not a philosopher, but primarily a teacher. Clearly, the appearance of any book which attempts to capture and transmit the thought of such an intriguing figure is an occasion of great interest. Particularly so since Rav Soloveitchik's teachings have been transmitted primarily not through the written word but the spoken word. Articles and essays by the Rav are so rare that they rapidly become collectors' items. He clearly prefers to teach Torah sheb'aal peh rather than a Torah she'bektav; and, to be sure, his rare oratorical gifts are eminently suited to the podium and platform. 87

5 TRADITION: A Journal of Orthodox Thought Now and then there appears in Hebrew a reconstruction of the lectures, but other than the brief Conspectus published by some of his students in 1974, no attempt at a definitive and thematic reconstruction in English has appeared until now.2 Abraham Besdin, long a disciple of the Rav, now fils this lacuna in the English language - and he fils it extremely well. Because of the nature of the material, it is a diffcult task to transpose the spoken work to the written page. Choosing not to present us simply with literal transcriptions of taped messages, Rabbi Besdin has wisely and expertly organized and reconstructed the salient themes of a number of seminal lectures in order to make the major concepts of Rav Soloveitchik's thought more available to a wider audience. In many instances, the reconstructions of lectures are so redolent of the original that one can hear an echo of the Rav himself as he uttered the words. Besdin has deliberately abbreviated much, encapsulized much, shortened much, but he has done so judiciously and with sensitivity. Whether the reader is new to the thought of the Rav, or whether he has been a student for decades, he wil greatly profit from this text. And while the subject matter is often recondite, Rabbi Besdin transmits the lessons with a light and gentle touch, so that even the heart of the novice can be engaged and his mind be taught. Here we find Rabbi Soloveitchik's classic lecture on the rebellon of Korach in the wilderness; his moving discussion of prayer as dialogue; the incisive analysis of the religious centrality of Erets Yisroel; the relationship of God, man, and the Jewish people; and much more. The volume is divided into twenty chapters, thematicallyarranged under six overarching themes. Its value is enhanced by helpful footnotes and by a full listing of Rabbi Soloveitchik's available publications in Hebrew and in English. The essence of the Rav's teachings are found here in convenient form, and serious English-speaking Jews are in great debt to Abraham Besdin for his efforts in bringing forth this significant contribution to twentieth century Jewish thought. One would hope to see more of Rav Soloveitchik's essays in their pristine form, written and edited by him alone. Until that day when the Rav's oral Torah is transformed into his written Torah, this type of summary reconstruction wil serve us well. NOTES i. Rabbi Joseph B. Soloveitchik, in Rabbi Joseph H. Lookstein Memorial Volume, ed. Leo Landman (New York: Ktav, 1980), p See Tradition, VoL. 17, No.2 which is devoted to five major lectures of Rabbi Soloveitchik. 88

Shifting Right and Left Will We Stay United?

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